© San Diego Times Courtesy of DJ Volatile, who shared the mic with La Verrio Barnes, aka DJ LV, at a Soul Train event in Los Angeles. Image credit: Staff
Angela Ramirez left school in a merger that made her financially stable. But he’s been pursuing his passion for DJing for almost a decade, and after playing enough overseas gigs to tour Europe, he’s glad to have a break to explore the road more seriously.
Then COVID-19 hit. But, he changed and quickly found himself online, honing his craft and landing critical connections including a part-time gig that led to club spots in Coachella, Bonnaroo and Southern California. Lover in North Park.
Right now, things are going full steam ahead, Ramirez, better known as Spinorita, said Wednesday from his Los Angeles studio.
Many of the DJs on the industry’s streaming service Beatsource hail from the West, but some have traveled from across the country, including Atlanta and Baltimore. Others came from the UK, including DJ Voltill, who started Soul Train’s online initiative two years ago.
A veteran DJ like Ramirez has seen 2020 canceled at all clubs, venues and events due to the pandemic.
He was assigned as a DJ by one of the officers in Jamaica, and when the organizers of the event had to be virtual, he was told about the online platform Twitch. Can he use it to create music for his shows?
Voltil, who like other DJs prefers not to reveal his real name, is on Amazon-owned Twitch, which he uses to stream and connect with players. Other users.
But Volatile saw a long-term opportunity in the platform, and when the DJs connected through Twitch’s hook-up options, Soul Train was born. “What I’m most excited about is being able to direct my audience to someone else,” he said. “Once we built these friendships, it made the most sense to do something where we could all help each other.”
Focusing on soul and R&B for decades, Soul Train has become a regular show on Twitch every Tuesday from 3:00 am to 9:00 pm, featuring over 110 DJs from all over the world. Perform 19 circuit circuits for 1 hour each.
And Soul Train has been successful in hosting two separate events, first in London last year and this week in Los Angeles, where DJs performed mixes in conjunction with an industry conference. Musical NAMM. Anaheim this weekend. The DJs will gather at Los Angeles’ Koreatown party on Thursday.
Hundreds of people typically tune in to the show, with audiences approaching 600 for some Wednesday sets, including the 2pm special.
DJs admit to being an integral part of Twitch. Some players and talk show hosts regularly attract thousands of viewers, but they do so because they are free to explore the music they love, not just clubs or clubs, since the outbreak. They want to organize an oath ceremony.
Even though bars and clubs have been open for a long time, they don’t want to lose the community that has formed around them on Twitch, whether it’s through solo streams or collaborative streams like Soul Train.
For Spinorita, he now aims to become a DJ who earns money by inviting his friends, upcoming concerts and his own road show.
“Twitch has changed my life in ways I never imagined,” Ramirez said.
3451 West 6th Street in Los Angeles. Escala hosts Soul Train meetings on Thursdays from 7:00pm to 2:00pm.
